More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

As you may have read... KTHXBAI (Mike) and I met up for some shots at the annual Vintage Grand Prix here in Pittsburgh. This was my second year going, and I decided going in that I wanted to walk away with some good panning shots... Well, I got some panning shots, I wouldn't call them good, but for a first try, I'll take 'em. Aside from that, I went for a lot of abstract stuff, and got in close to the cars. I found this helped me to eliminate distractions like other cars and people in my shots, but in some cases gave me unidentifiable pieces of some of these really awesome cars.

Ok - enough chit chat... here are some photos:

1. My response to Mike's #1 - I think we both cropped out the same over-exposed piece of pavement!

2. Vintage Panning?

3. Bad Panning, but probably the sharpest I got so I figured I'd share... and I know the car is too far left...

4. Original Porsche 356(?) - this one was actually being run in the races, thus all the grit on the hood, and I just couldn't manage to clone it all out... and all those reflections!!!

5. Another 356(?) (possibly a reproduction?)

6. One for our British friends... especially those who are fans of vintage British racing

All C&C is welcome. I know it is tough on large batches like this, but I also didn't want to clutter things up with too many posts. I do have one that I will be posting separately to get some more direct C&C on.

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

The sepiatone on #2 works great for the shot. I can see why the panning was so tricky since the turn was so close as you mentioned in speaking with you.

#4 The coloring of this shot is striking! was the hood a gradiant color or did uit just turn out that way? Regardless I like it.

#5 Very sharp I like the use of the DOF.

Looking at your updated gallery there are some great ones of some instument panels as well! I'm really glad you mentioned this. I can't wait to go back next year.

Mike,

Sorry - I was paying so much attention to the B&W thread that I totally missed this comment.

Yeah - I think next time I try panning, I'll have to see if I can find a straight-away to make things a little easier with constant speed.

The hood in #4 was not gradient - I have absolutely no clue how that happened or what caused it, but I also have no clue how to fix it.

I was happy with how #5 turned out too. I had two versions of it - one where it is almost centered and this one. I don't really like the almost centered one and probably will just dump it since this one turned out so nice. I did have to do a slight rotation on this one to get it perfectly vertical, but I think I did a fairly decent job with that.

It is funny you say you liked the instrument panels as I really didn't and was really close to deleting them, but for whatever reason decided to keep them. Glad they worked for you.

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Rob,

Come up next year. They have it every year, and it is a huge event. When the guys racing are saying how incredibly huge of an event it is, I figure it is a big deal. Tons and tons of vintage cars show up for it from all over - in fact they were talking about a couple cars that were freighted in from California for it.

One of the things folks love about it is that they run the race on the public roads much like the original races of the time would have been done. The track runs through a park, and as you can see by the third shot, the track is lined by stone walls in many areas. The put up hay bales in some corners - pretty much like they would have originally. It is fun stuff.

I've never actually gone for the race day which is on Sunday. I always go on Saturday when they're doing time trials and practice laps. But that also means you have access (everything is free by the way) to the paddock area where the drivers are working on their vehicles between runs. Everyone is very friendly and we quite often talk with the drivers about their cars.

- Bill

PS: The second shot wouldn't stand being blown-up to print... It is not perfectly panned, and while the sepia treatment hides some of the flaws, I'm sure they would still be very evident if you blew the shot up to print. Maybe next year though...

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Okay... I'm not a car person... but these are great shots! I love the panned ones... they remind me of of the slot car race tracks... you know, the kinds with the trigger speed controls... can't think of what they are called but my brothers had them and so did my boys... fun images!

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Originally Posted by ilovelucydog

Okay... I'm not a car person... but these are great shots! I love the panned ones... they remind me of of the slot car race tracks... you know, the kinds with the trigger speed controls... can't think of what they are called but my brothers had them and so did my boys... fun images!

Mary - this is going to shock you..... they're called slot car racers. Which actually gives me a good idea... There's a toy store not too far from home that has several big tracks setup - I should see if they'll let me shoot them.

Glad you like the shots despite not being a car person... but I think it is easy to like those old vintage cars.

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Originally Posted by ktuli

Mary - this is going to shock you..... they're called slot car racers. Which actually gives me a good idea... There's a toy store not too far from home that has several big tracks setup - I should see if they'll let me shoot them.

Glad you like the shots despite not being a car person... but I think it is easy to like those old vintage cars.

- Bill

That's funny! I remember having those tracks (I think they were called AFX?) set up in all sorts of configuations in our house when I was growing up. My dad and brothers took it quite seriously. They would change the tires, body, connections, etc., trying to make their car the fastest cars... and heaven forbid you use 'their' car.

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Originally Posted by ktuli

Rob,

Come up next year. They have it every year, and it is a huge event. When the guys racing are saying how incredibly huge of an event it is, I figure it is a big deal. Tons and tons of vintage cars show up for it from all over - in fact they were talking about a couple cars that were freighted in from California for it.

One of the things folks love about it is that they run the race on the public roads much like the original races of the time would have been done. The track runs through a park, and as you can see by the third shot, the track is lined by stone walls in many areas. The put up hay bales in some corners - pretty much like they would have originally. It is fun stuff.

I've never actually gone for the race day which is on Sunday. I always go on Saturday when they're doing time trials and practice laps. But that also means you have access (everything is free by the way) to the paddock area where the drivers are working on their vehicles between runs. Everyone is very friendly and we quite often talk with the drivers about their cars.

- Bill

PS: The second shot wouldn't stand being blown-up to print... It is not perfectly panned, and while the sepia treatment hides some of the flaws, I'm sure they would still be very evident if you blew the shot up to print. Maybe next year though...

That sounds like a really cool event.

As far as your modesty on the second shot - while I cannot tell from the size, I like that it is not perfectly panned. It only has part of it sort of in focus, but it goes with the speed of the shot. It really is a cool shot.

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Originally Posted by spngr311

That sounds like a really cool event.

As far as your modesty on the second shot - while I cannot tell from the size, I like that it is not perfectly panned. It only has part of it sort of in focus, but it goes with the speed of the shot. It really is a cool shot.

Rob,

Thanks again. I agree - despite its flaws, I really like that shot too. It is one I am proud of for sure. I also like the sepia treatment on it... and generally I am not a fan of sepia treatments. If you're interested, I just posted it to my blog where I am able to include mouseover effects to show the original color version for easy comparison. I think you'll agree that the sepia version is many times better than the original color version...

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

Originally Posted by arith

I like #4

Steve,

Thanks! That is one of my favorites too. I know the reflections and such can be a bit distracting, and sometimes I look at it and feel I wish the badge was move visible, but then I remind myself that a true car fan will look at that and instantly be able to identify it regardless. And a casual car fan will probably appreciate the lines and colors I think.

Then again, I'm sure none of us would complain about having one of those parked in our driveways...

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

I tried a number of shutter speeds and finally settled on 1/10s based on the speed of the cars. In general I can get semi-acceptable (ie: don't pixel peep) results at that speed and figured I might be able to do it for panning. As you say - I seem to have done well with the vertical portion of it (technically, I should have been using a tripod or monopod, but my new tripod had not yet arrived in the mail, and the threads on my monopod are stripped... plus I hate walking around all those beautiful cars with a tripod). You have to remember that these cars aren't going all that ridiculously fast. Plus where I setup, they were going into a turn, which meant they were changing speeds... which I am sure didn't help.

Re: More Pgh Vintage Grand Prix 2011

That is probably what got you. You can see it on the rear wheel of the front Porsche. It's really hard on a complex turn like that to pan like that. You did an admirable job - the image still captures the nostalgic speed of those old 911's.